Of Chicks and Owlets
by Izzu
Summary: Post series. What a half-blind owl got to do now with the arrival of three eggs of her own?
1. Chapter 1

az: So while reading the Wolves of the Beyonds and rereading the Guardians books... all these muses starts to come out. Yay?

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Of Chicks and Owlets

By honou-no-izumi alias Izzu

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"Oh dear! Oh dear! By Glaux what should I do!"

Soren and Pelli frowned as they lighted in front of the hollow where Cleve and Otulissa lived in before walking in to find Cleve staring at them in a bewildered state. Somewhere nearby, a small mound of feathers that was Otulissa continued to moan as the pair noticed the newly laid eggs sat neatly in a nest of downs. Pelli gasped in wonder as Soren hopped to Cleve's side to ask what was wrong. Normally, to have new eggs welcomed into the world is a cause to be celebrated, not to be woed at!

Otulissa answered his concerns right away. "But oh Soren... Cleve dear! Three eggs, and you know of my duties in this tree! How should I care for them. My very own chicks!"

Soren stared at her in amazement over the outburst. Of all things that this dear old friend was worrying...

"But Otulissa dear, you're not going to be the only one to care for the chick alone. There's me... Audrey, I think Pelli won't mind helping out, as well as many other owls that could help you. Don't fret..." coaxed Cleve gently as Otulissa continued to cry.

"What help? Even Soren last time left Pelli to fend for herself for their chicks while he went frolicking away with the Band! I'm not as good as Pelli in these things... and I've only got one eye! What'd I do!" she moaned again as Soren became flustered.

Pelli hastily tried to calm her mate down before turning towards her. "But that was different, dear. Soren had been worried about Coryn that time who seemed so depressed himself. He knew that I'd be able to care for the chicks while he be away, so was not worried too much about it," Soren beamed to his mate as Pelli winked at him. "I'm sure Cleve would help the best he could with the chicks and Audrey would certainly help too, just as we had Mrs. P to help us."

"Besides, that time I was really glad Soren did what he did. Or else he'd be even more depressed than Coryn could have been and I would have to handle _that_ along with the chicks!" Pelli churred as Soren stared at her in alarm over what she said.

"I di—" Soren tried to argue as Peli continued to speak.

"And Otulissa dear, it doesn't matter if you had perfect eyesight or not. I'm sure you'd be able to become a good mother for your chicks as well as I have. And I know despite what you said, you liked taking care of young'uns... didn't you?"

Soren glanced towards Cleve in exasperation as he muttered softly. "Females..." he said as Cleve churred.

Otulissa seemed to have calmed down a little to Cleve's relief. "Also Otulissa, as for many of your duties you don't think that we could have helped lighten the load? I could always help handle the colliering and weather interpretation chaw, Fritha could take care of the press, Pelli, the Band, everyone could always help out with the other tasks. You could even have your classes here instead! You've worried too much, dear friend," said Soren again.

"You'll do fine, dear," Cleve said as he wrapped one wing around his mate. "We'll manage. You've done many things in the past, this shouldn't be any different. We can manage it."

Otulissa covered her face underneath Cleve's feathers as she sobbed still. "I'm a pathetic owl..."

Soren churred. "Why Otulissa, it wasn't that bad! Get a grip of yourself! I'm sure that the moment the chicks are hatched all your worries would be gone! You'd do fine."

The sobbing finally stopped but Otulissa still hid her face under her feathers.

"This is so embarrassing..." she moaned as Pelli tapped her gently with her wing.

"Everything's going to be fine."

"And aside from us, I'm sure there would be some books you could read to learn to take care of your chicks better."

Cleve smiled as Otulissa finally cheered up. "Oh my, I never thought of that!" she exclaimed as Soren saw the old Otulissa returning to everyone's relief.

"All will be fine!" said Cleve again as Otulissa stopped worrying.

xxx

"You're saying that I'm such a worrier, aren't you dear?"

Pelli's eyes twinkled as she glanced to her mate.

"Aren't you? And you had always worried about Coryn as much as you did for the three Bs. I was glad you manage to handle it well and not falter as well."

Soren churred. "So you never thought I'd be a good father?" he asked as Pelli giggled.

"I feared you might have been too good a father actually. I worry if you'd try to become everyone's _father_ at this rate!"

Soren exclaimed in amusement as he saw that Pelli was just jesting. They heard Bell calling after them as she asked to be allowed to fly the highwind that had started to blow towards the tree. Soren smiled.

"Ah well, concerns aside I have more than I could have handle with my own three chicks. No need to worry about me dear."

Pelli saw him off as father and daughter flew into the wind and surfed the gutters, scuppers, swillage and baggywrinkles as any Guardians of Ga'Hoole could fly. She smiled to herself as she watched them from afar. It was indeed peaceful times now, thankfully, if the only few concerns that arose were that of worries of a seasoned warrior owl over taking care of her future owlets.

My, what a cherished peaceful times this is...


	2. Chapter 2

az: Ideas ran out near the end. Haha!

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Of Chicks and Owlets: The Hatching

By honou-no-izumi alias Izzu

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"Ah! It shakes again!" cried Bell as Soren laughed. His youngest daughter reminded him of himself, when he had—with his late parents and Kludd—watched in anticipation as Eglantine started to hatch out of the egg. Soren felt his gizzard clench as he thought of a similar memory where Coryn also used to excitedly waited with bated breath when all of his chicks had started to hatch out of their eggs one by one. Despite the chicks did not hatch all on the same day, it never stopped Coryn from being excited. What fond memories... those times, it really felt as if Coryn was not just his nephew, but his own son.

Soren shook his head as he glanced around the hollow. It looked like the hollow had started to be a bit tight to fit all of them. Otulissa and Cleve aside, there were several other owls inside this hollow; squeezing themselves rather tightly just so they would witness the hatching of the first of Otulissa's chicks. Pelli was beside him, as well as his three B's—the girls never want to miss the hatchings—Gylfie, Ruby... Audrey and Mrs P. Eglantine, Primrose, Digger, Octavia and Fritha waited outside the hollow. Even Tengshu came by to welcome the arrival of the first of the three chicks.

If Otulissa had been nervous before, she barely felt it now with so many of her dearest friends as well as her mate, Cleve, sitting beside her. "I'm so excited!" she exclaimed as Soren and Pelli flashed a knowing glance to each other. Soren churred.

"Ezyl always said that eggs only start to get interesting when they began to hatch." Soren turned his head almost around as he caught Octavia snickering to herself from outside the hollow.

"That he did! 'Eggs are so boring!' he used to say. Can't even let me be excited as I waited for Soren's chicks to hatch out!"

Soren smiled. Immediately the memories started to flow back into his mind, of how Ezylryb and Octavia had bickered like a pair of old owls over his chicks. He used to think if Lil, Ezylryb's old mate was still alive, they could have bickered fondly with each other in that exact way. Soren hastily wiped a tear away with his talon. It was also during that time when he had welcomed Coryn to the great tree...

"Would it be a girl, Da?" Bell suddenly asked as Soren looked down towards her.

"I wonder as well, dear..." he said cryptically even though he had overheard Mrs. P saying earlier that she sensed this one to be a girl. Another boy and another girl would come out much later.

"Ah, I wonder what should I name the chicks!" exclaimed Otulissa again as Cleve reassured her with his wings. "We'll figure it out soon enough." he said.

"Glaux, I hoped she won't name a daughter with _that _name—ah! Octavia!" Otulissa looked up as she heard Twilight's voice from outside the hollow. Despite what she caught from his words, she had no inclination to beak back towards the Great Gray.

"Oh look! The tooth egg finally come out!" cried Blythe as everyone in the hollow bowed closer to take a look. Even the commotion outside stopped abruptly as they strained their ears to better hear.

"That was a tooth egg?" Bell cried in awe as the shell cracked to reveal a slimy, featherless creature with a bulging head. Soren smiled as he watched Bell's eyes widened in surprise to see such a revolting but adorable creature came into being. "Did I looked like that when I first hatched too?"

Pelli churred aloud as Otulissa joined her mirth. "Certainly, my dearest. All owls looked like this when they first hatched. How they grow so fast after that."

Otulissa hooted cheerfully, "Indeed they would, all the First ceremonies this little one would get would just breeze past so fast! Oh my, Mrs. P! You were right! It is a girl! I'll call this one Emellia!"

Gylfie's eyes sparkled as she exchanged glances with Soren, Pelli and Ruby. "That's closest enough she could get, isn't it?" she said as the four owls churred softly. Everyone knows how often Otulissa talked about Strix Emerilla, a renown weathertrix that was part of her ancestry. It won't be so surprising if Otulissa would name her chicks based on Strix Emerilla's name, Strix Struma... or any other esteemed Spotted owls in her ancestry.

"That's a marvelous name, dear," Cleve said as he ran his beak over Otulissa's face feathers fondly.

"Didn't we tell you? You wouldn't stray far than being any less a good mother to your chicks," Soren told her as Otulissa waved her wing at him.

"Ah pishposh! Don't remind me how silly I've been these nights past!" she exclaimed before cooing at her newly hatched owlet opening its eyes for the first time, marking her First Sight ceremony complete.

"Can I treat Emellia like a cousin, Da? Can I, can I?" Bell hopped around again as Otulissa gently pecked her head.

"Certainly my dear. Even if not everyone here is a Spotted owl, I wouldn't want any less than all of you to be part of the chicks's life."

"Hear, hear!" Gylfie and Digger exclaimed almost together as owls from inside and outside the hollow cheered. Soren chuckled as he caught wind of the singing of two Great Grays from outside, the two being Twilight's older brothers Tavis and Cletus as they celebrated the event with joy.

Pelli chuckled with glee. "If every new hatching was such a lively thing like now, I can't imagine how it would be when that time comes for dear Gylfie, Digger and Twilight!"

Gylfie churred. "Oh Pelli dear I can't imagine that! I'd need to first find a mate then, wouldn't I?" Her eyes brightened as loud laughs erupted from outside.

"Though I'd bet the tree would be full of songs all day the moment Twilight gets a mate!"

Everyone in the hollow started to laugh as the night grew old with even more merriment.


End file.
